Hello everyone! I am MrEnderman (IGN: HolyTiger), and I decided this season to get to Srank and play around with a couple of decks with what I considered my favorite cards, since I am usually an Out-of-Meta kind of guy. Anyways, this decks felt really good while doing the climb, and to my surprise, between the mix of all of them, they got me to top 15 S-rank. I will warn you though, most of the decks are yet to be heavily tested (tournaments and a bigger number of games), but I donât have as much time as I used to. However, Iâve been feeling well with them, so might as well share them for others who may want to play a card they like or just want to have a bit of fun.
Dawns Eye Argeon
This has been surprisingly effective. When I built this deck, I didnât want it to focus on just Dawnâs Eye (I have three to test out the consistency of it, Iâll give possible replacements later on), so I built it inside of a Divine Bond shell, thatâs mostly the reason behind Dioltas, which also has a âLock downâ function in this deck so we donât have to keep chasing down the enemy, and Elyx, which serves as the Ironcliffe of the deck as well as reach for somewhat far away minions.
Before I go into a more detailed explanation, do remember that Dawnâs Eye is mostly to be used as removal and only as a finisher once you are far ahead, or have no other threats to bash with your god damn bare fists.
Game Plan.
The early game is the same as many other Argeon decks. Your first couple of turns will consist on vomiting tempo, since Lyonar has the best 2-drops (Azurite Lion and Windblade Adept) to threaten any early game from the opponent, as well as the strongest 3-Drop, which is Silverguard Knight, to already stop your opponent in their tracks. Then depending on what kind youâve gotten, youâll go through 3 paths: Tempo if you grab Holy Immolationâs or a Regalia in a really weak board, Divine Bond if you draw it along Dioltas, or âControlâ if you have to invest artifacts into removing minions (this will be the main path that makes Dawnâs Eye shine).
During this branching midgame, it will also depend on the opponent faced, of course. Against other Lyonars, you want to fight the tempo game, only IF you are able to fight for it. Donât try to face it head on if your hand isnât going to pull you through it, instead, youâll want to go the Divine Bond path, and use your artifacts to gain back all you can, donât be conservative. Only be conservative against zirâan, since theyâll be most likely be fighting for value, and the artifact shenanigans can help a lot.
Against Songhai, the tempo game is your strongest bet. Dioltasâ tombstones also help out a lot, if you feel like taking a more Divine Bond centered route, but going with artifacts is suicidal. The amount of pings generated by their minions make it easy for them to break them, and you will struggle reaching those annoying 1/1s. Iâd consider this the worst matchup, but itâs not a lost fight right off the bat (unless they double katara⌠then it gets dicey).
Vetruvian is scary and their cards can screw you up quite a bit. Obelysks being hard to remove early means your tempo will get removed if you donât pay a lot of attention to possible outcomes. This also means that playing the Divine Bond game can get you really far behind, although it will be your strongest bet, due to the lack of hard removal for big provokes (donât underestimate the amount of damage they can deal to a single minion though). As for artifacts⌠unless you can stack them fast and easy, Rashaâs Curse will completely take that away. Fireblaze obelysk also helps the Vetruvian destroy them, so this isnât the best route (although 1 single Dawns Eye will mean you will kill obelysks in a single strike, which is kinda nice).
Swarm Abyssian⌠pray for tempest asap. No joke, it is close to impossible to keep up with their spawns, and if they setup a bloodmoon priestess, you are most likely to be screwed. Once again, tempo is your best bet. As for Creep Cassy, Artifacts plays a big part here. If you get an Arclyte to stick, stacking them up will make the match-up quite easy, since the opponent canât punish a 8/X general, and those skillful Revenants wonât hurt as much. Elyx will help out reach kelainos, and tempest clears those annoying Crawlers. 4 mana 11/11s still hurt, sadly, BUT ARGEON IS A GOD DAMN MAN AND DONâT GIVE TWO DAMN F***S!
Against Magmar, stacking Regalias is great, since it denies Vaaths most abusable resource: their BBS. This means that artifacts are really valuable and getting them on asap will probably put you really far ahead. Playing a tempo heavy game can work out, but youâll have to be really careful. Not only are your comeback mechanics somewhat limited (only 2 Holy Immolation), theyâll also come down at 6 mana minimum.
Last but not least, Vanar! Artifacts here are wonderfully useful. Wastes their resources on your face while you take less damage and it will mean that their BBS wonât be as threatening in the long run and Dawnâs Eye recovering a damaged Regalia is usually game ending. Be sure to keep on to Sunbloom later in the game, those Concealing Shrouds can be pretty tricky. The Divine Bond package here is weak, due to enfeeble shenanigans, and going for tempo will probably work out well as long as Frostburn doesnât wipe out your board.
Card Choice and Possible Changes.
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Aegis Barrier > This is a card that supports the Divine Bond package. Not allowing the opponent to use single target removal on things like Dioltasâ tombstone or a sojourner can make it so they get slightly more value (in dioltasâ case, it can even kill the opponent). It also helps protect good old Zâir, whose opening gambit is apparently give your opponent a transform effect.
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Grandmaster Zâir > This one is kind of a stretch. Itâs suppose to help out with possible health problems, due to going head first into the action with your general. However, this card is probably not a staple in the list, and it can be changed for a card of your choice (Arclyte sentinels, 1 more Holy Immolation and Circle of Life, take your pick).
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Dawnâs Eye > The star of the deck. I use 3 because I like all in strategies, but 2 would work perfectly fine. You can add a 3rd copy of another spell.
Spirit of the Wild Faie
This deck is a lot of fun, in my eyes at least. The concept is straight forward, go for infiltrates with a bunch of good old âjust goodâ minion, such as Dioltas, Sojourner, Wings of Paradise (shout out to @Smash_the_Hamster for inspiring me to use this guy) and Dancing Blades. The somewhat bulk of the mid minions is really good for Wailing Overdrive, since their chances of living are pretty nice, and Saberspine Tiger with it basically means you have somewhat of a Spiral Technique. Wings of Paradise is a great early game heavy hitter, as well as removal if need be. Then we have Spirit of the Wild. This card, for those who are not aware, used to cost 4, and it made Midrange Faie quite a threat if she stuck you on your side (it also made Frosthorn Rhyno a pretty good late game combo material). This change made it hard to justify adding it to the deck, because its effect becomes more limited. However, I want it to play it again, since it rewards quite a bit for playing the board on your opponents side and well⌠I just like it.
Game Plan.
The game plan is straight forward. Gain value using cheap, efficient removals. Wipe your opponents board with Frostburns, use your âgood stuffâ to gain tempo. Itâs also surprisingly flexible, since it can be pretty aggressive, but it can also play for late game, due to good old Meltdown shenanigans (another good stuff card, what can I say) as well as her BBS.
Against Lyonar, keeping up with their tempo will be an annoyance, so youâll have to play well early to be able to go for the impactful cards in the matchup without remaining vulnerable to some kind of Holy Immolation burst. Frostburn, Dioltas and Blades are examples of good midgame cards that can take it back. Itâs also hard for them to get around a Wailing Overdrive minion, but donât go all in early. Against Zirâan, youâll be fighting for the board a lot, and going for the Spirit of the Wild burst will most likely be your way out of you not getting out lasted.
Against Songhai, as long as you have long ranged removal (aka Chromatic Cold and Hearthsisters) you will do mostly fine, but if they go for early burst, youâre gonna need to pray to the God of Hands, because not having Concealing Shroud does make you more vulnerable to an ending burst than the average Faie.
Vetruvian gets pretty annoying, since Frostburn doesnât straight up kill the obelysks, and having to use Chromatic on early game minions just feels bad. However, this is were the Wailing Overdrive buff as well as Wings of Paradise kinda stand out, since those are cards that are not easily answerable for the usual Vetruvian. However, teching in an enfeeble is a choice, as Iâll point out later on.
Magmar is⌠painful. The amount of pressure they can put out early makes you fall behind quite a bit, and those tombstones will not help with Makantor and Natural Selection stuff. Knowing when and how to input damage is how you will win, but itâs not a fun matchup.
Swarm abyssian, just the usual, get your handy dandy Frostburn and get back to beat lilithe up. As for Cassyva, pressuring them to their side will eventually mean a win, however, donât let them get you early with hits from Abyssal Juggernaughts or anything else, since Revenants are still a thing.
Against other Vanar players, just force them to answer. Itâs annoying, yes, but they wont be able to develop a board, which will end up in a minion staying unanswered and them ending without resources. Also, Chromatic destroys Concealing Shrouds, so keep that in mind.
Card Choices and Possible Changes
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Snow Chaser > This 1x Snow chaser is something I used to do a lot back when Cryogenesis was 3 mana, however, now that it has been mostly been vanished away from usual play, this deck building shenanigan ainât as good. However, I think it still does a good job just being one. If you donât feel like carrying a 1x Snow chaser, feel free to add another tiger or another Wings of Paradise.
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Concealing Shroud > If you want to feel safer from aggresion. Taking out Snow Chaser and a late game drop can make Concealing Shroud a strong 2x card (I donât think youâll need more, since Sojourner can only get you a limited amount of sustained draw).
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Enfeeble > this can be a substitute for Frostburn. A skorn could be added for a dioltas and the Chaser (why do I have a feeling people will throw chaser away).
Celestial Kaleos
Possibly my favorite deck of the bunch, and maybe the worst of all. This deck is a fairly standard onyx jaguar Kaleos, with Jax and Celestial Phantom added to the mix. Celestial Phantom is here to work as a big threat removal, and also as a vetruvian tech, so to say, since it will take out obelysk in one single hit. Jax is a good late game minion, even if it gets blown back by AoE, since it still somewhat threatens to end the game as long as one mini jaxi survives, due to Killing Edge. It also means that the next turn, if you spawn Onyx Jaguar at 7 mana, youâll have some leftover mana to either use your BBS for an extra buff, or just spawn another minion.
Game Plan
This deck focuses on putting down somewhat of an early board, so it can then use it to take over the game with an Onyx Jaguar. The timing of how, when and why you want to spawn Jaguar is the most important aspect. The same applies to Jax Truesight.
Against Lyonar, Celestial Phantom works wonders. It gets rid of bulky early minions, and possibly stat bags, due to its ability. It also lives through Holy Immolation, which is a plus. Zendo is also pretty useful, due to it holding down some of the aggression from the opposing general and can help out stall against Regalias.
In the Songhai mirror, you will want to avoid as much burst as possible (simple to say, butâŚ). Primus Shield is also a great minion in the matchup, since it will make their movement limited, and thatâs what you mostly want to aim for. Zendo works as a great finisher, Onyx Jaguar means that if a board is ignored for more aggresion, you can punish the opponent, and Jax Truesight is great as long as you donât find the 1/10 spearhai player.
Against Magmar, this list finds itself at pretty much a lost cause. Youâre most probably never gonna keep a board, you canât dispell vaath, rush minion youâll probably have to tank twice⌠The way you win is by basically hoping you can get some heavy burst, and maybe getting the Spiral Technique in the end, but itâs definitely the worst matchup.
Vetruvian is where Celestial Phantom shines the most. Due to it killing obelysks in one single hit, that means you wonât be wasting damage from other sources on them, and thus be able to go for the offensive. It can also take down buffed dervishes if need be. Aside from that, Jax in the late game is nice, do be careful with Stars fury, since that will most likely always get rid of 2-3 jaxis, but its worth the gamble, since as long as one lives, it will become a decent threat, whether it be because of Killing Edge or Onyx Jaguar stuff.
Swarm Abyssian is near impossible to beat if they get early swarm bursts (crypto+furosa, wraithling swarm, zyxâŚ), but the general strat remains in you clearing up the board as well as you can turn per turn until they hopefully run out. As for Cassyva, kelaino hurts quite a bit, but it can be dealt with Katara, Fox+PF and many alternatives, although important damage is definitely lost.
Vanar is tough as well, due to enfeeble hindering your strategy quite a bit. Going for heavy burst and pressure is the way though, since it will mostly block their ability to hold down a board of their own, and thats when you can start jamming in your own board (unless you get rekt by them having everything, then⌠Skill Technique.exe).
Card Choices and Possible Changes.
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Celestial Phantom > I still sustain that this card is perfectly usable, although many think itâs just not worth. Sadly, I have yet to prove them wrong, but Iâve had some good fun with it, and it helps not needing to run Deathstrike Seal on top. If you donât feel like it, Panddo and maybe changing something else for the usual Deathstrike+Panddo package is just fine.
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Kaido Assasin > I needed another early drop to fulfill the 9 minions to play T1 as P1, and it can work out for better trades if you canât get it for a backstab. It also gives me another Backstab minion to cantrip with Killing Edge. Getting another Katara does work, but it being 1 attack makes it awkward for front attacks later in the game.
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Primus Shieldmaster > Itâs a great provoke to protect the board if need be. Itâs also great if you want to get an on-curve Onyx Jaguar play, however, thatâs normally not going to be the usual play. Sunsteel Defender is still a great 4 drop, and works pretty well overall against magmar.
Burn Cassyva
I wonât have a detailed explanation for this deck, since itâs the least played out of all and I still think this is just a âFor Funâ deck. However, Iâll still give a run down. Alcuin loremaster is probably the MVP of this deck, since being able to cycle the cheap spells (Grasp of Agony and Void Pulse) gives a good push, as well as some good healing / AoE overall. It can also give to some interesting plays, stealing the opponents spells (Is there a better feeling than using Alcuin Loremaster, steal Holy immolation, and using it back against them?). Then thereâs the usual rush package, with Flameblood warlock, Saberspine Tiger + Shadow Reflection and Revenant for the finishing blows. Blaze Hound and Spelljammer with Dark Seed work somewhat nicely, but just playing Dark Seed is not that great. Youâll usually want to wait for later to be able to follow it up with some other cheap spells, but it feels great using it and dealing 6 to the opponent.
Well, thatâs all. If you have any questions, I will answer them as well as I possibly can, as always. Thanks for reading, and Iâll see you on the battlefield!
